Rep. Connolly Says House GOP Turned Its Back on Veterans By Eliminating Funding for Homeless Vets Program in Budget

February 24, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Congressman Gerry Connolly said he is outraged that the House Republican budget cuts passed at 5 am Saturday morning includes the termination of a small but critical program that addresses the urgent nature of homelessness among America’s veterans.  Connolly joined other House Democrats and several Republican Congressmen in voting against the House GOP’s Continuing Resolution that makes massive cuts in funding for the federal government until September 30, 2011.

“By approving the elimination of this federal funding to help homeless vets secure housing and other critical services, the House GOP leadership has turned their backs on brave men and women who put their lives on the line to defend our country and now need and deserve our help,” Connolly said.

The Virginia Congressman said the elimination of a $75 million program that offers housing vouchers to homeless veterans in the U.S. “is one of the most egregious examples of an array of unconscionable proposals” that also include the zeroing out of federal funding for Washington’s Metro safety and capital improvements, and many other deep cuts in important federal programs.

The homeless veterans program is a cooperative effort between the Veterans Affairs Department (VA) and the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) that has been effective in providing a small element of stability in the lives of the military veterans – a population that has experienced a spike in homelessness in recent years.

According to a government report in 2009, at least 75,000 veterans were homeless on a single January night and a total of 136,334 veterans spent at least one night in an emergency shelter or transitional housing.  An estimated 57 percent of homeless veterans were staying in emergency shelters and the remainder were living on the streets or in abandoned buildings.  Included in this population are a substantial number of younger veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars – many battling drug and PTSD issues.

The VA has been charged by President Obama to reach the goal of ending homelessness among veterans in five years, and this one program—HUD/VA Supportive Housing – offered housing vouchers for more than 10,000 veterans across the nation in the past year and another 20,000 since 2008.  HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan indicated to Congress last year that a total of at least 60,000 vouchers would be required to respond to the urgent need.

“The fact that this absolutely critical program was placed on a list of expenditures to be terminated in the Republican budget is indicative of how thoughtless and insensitive the process became after the most conservative members of the Republican caucus demanded further cuts in a budget that would already have caused tremendous harm and dislocation throughout the country,” Connolly said.

“As long as there are veterans sleeping in shelters, cars, under bridges and on the streets, we have an obligation to continue this voucher program,” he said.

Connolly said he expects the Senate will act responsibly and produce a short-term budget plan that reinstates the homeless veterans funding and other critical funding.